Toronto, February 18, 2014 ICASO Board of Directors reaffirms strategic directions; welcomes new members The Board

of Directors of ICASO met in Toronto from January 29-31, 2014 to assess, among other things, how best to continue supporting communities, particularly key populations, to engage more effectively within the global AIDS response. The Board also took stock of the performance of the organization. After a particularly challenging period, Im heartened to see that ICASO has weathered the storm and emerged a leaner, stronger and more responsive organization, said Olayide Akanni, Chair of the Board of Directors. The Board members commended the staff for their unwavering dedication and unanimously reaffirmed their own commitment to achieving ICASOs strategic objectives by ensuring that: Global, regional and national leaders fulfill their commitments and apply evidencedbased approaches to end AIDS and promote health, gender equality and human rights; Community perspectives and experiences guide all major global, regional and national HIV policies and programs; and Community systems for health and human rights are strong, well linked and well integrated with health systems.

The Board also welcomed two new members: Marama Pala, a Maori activist from New Zealand and from Grenada, Rachel Charles, an advocate for the rights of women living with HIV. Ms. Pala and Ms. Charles replace long-serving members Ton Coenen and David Barr. The Board of Directors is now composed of 4 men and 5 women, with 4 out of 9 openly living with HIV. While thanking David and Ton for their commitment and dedication over the years, we are also very excited about the new composition of the Board, said Tony Di Pede, Chair of the Governance Committee of the ICASO Board. Both Marama and Rachel bring new and fresh perspectives to this global organization that, combined with the current members and the staff, will ensure the full implementation of the Strategic Plan. Expressing her enthusiasm at joining the Board, Marama Pala said: I am looking forward to helping ICASO realize its full potential. I am very excited to be part of this Board and will continue to bring the perspectives of indigenous women living with HIV to the table. The Board of Directors also celebrated Don Baxter, ICASOs newly appointed Vice Chair, who was recently honoured with the Order of Australia. If there is somebody that truly deserves this honor, its Don, said Jacqueline Coleman, a member of the Board. Dons passionate

commitment to human rights has been an inspiration to many. We are honored to have Don as our fellow Board member at ICASO. Other matters discussed during this years Board meeting included reviewing ICASOs 2014 programmatic focus, which seeks to ensure that the organization actively facilitates platforms for mentoring and supporting communities to engage more actively in key policy dialogues and decisions shaping the global AIDS response. Discussions focused extensively on Governance issues and reviewing progress made by ICASO in compliance with the newly revised laws governing NGOs incorporated in Canada.

From left to right: Meena Seshu, Marcus Day, Don Baxter, Olayide Akanni, Marama Pala, Ton Coenen, Mary Ann Torres, Tony Di Pede, Jacqueline Coleman and Carlos Garca De Len (Rachel Charles not pictured)

****************************************** Since its creation in 1991, ICASO has facilitated the inclusion and leadership of communities in the effort to bring about an end to the AIDS pandemic, recognizing the importance of promoting health and human rights as part of this undertaking. For more information, please contact: Mary Ann Torres Executive Director ICASO +1 416 419-6338 maryannt@icaso.org Information on the work of ICASO and its partners is available at www.icaso.org